Communicating Across Cultures

Learning Objectives

LO.1 Describe characteristics of cultural

intelligence, its importance for global
business leaders, and approaches to
developing it.
LO.2 Explain the major cultural dimensions and
related communication practices.
LO.3 Name and describe key categories of
business etiquette in the intercultural
communication process.
 Communication and Culture

“Culture is communication and

communication is culture”.

Culture is the way we live. It is the air we breath.

It is the thought we think. It is the clothes we
put on. It is the glasses we wear and look
through. Culture is what shapes our perception.
It is the collection of values that sustain and
direct our lives.
 Culture
Culture refers to all such characteristics that
are common to a particular group of people
that are learned and not given by nature.

It is in the nature of human beings to form local

and regional communities.
 Culture
Cultures don’t communicate, individuals do
While we don’t know that an individual’s cultural
values and expectations affect his/her communication,
we cannot identify them based on generalisations
about the culture he/she belongs to
 Functions of Organisational Culture

Gives a sense of identity

Generate commitment among its employees
Serves to clarify and reinforce standards of
behaviour
 Developing Cultural
Intelligence
Cultural intelligence (CQ)
a measure of your ability to work with and adapt to
members of other cultures.

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 Characteristics of High
Cultural Intelligence
1. Respect, recognise,Workplacer
and appreciate cultural differences
2. Possess curiosity about and interest in other cultures
3. Avoid inappropriate stereotypes
4. Adjust conceptions of time and show patience
5. Manage language difference to achieve shared meaning
6. Understand cultural dimensions
7. Establish trust and show empathy across cultures
8. Approach cross-cultural work relationships with a learner
mindset
9. Build a co-culture of co-operation and innovation
 Respect, Recognize, and Appreciate
Cultural Differences

Cultural intelligence is built on attitudes of

respect and recognition of other cultures.
This means that you view other cultures as
holding legitimate and valid views of and
approaches to managing business and
workplace relationships.
 Be Curious about Other
Cultures
Study abroad
Learn a language
Develop friendships with international
students on your campus
Take an interest in culture and routinely learn
about it

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 Take an Interest in a Culture and
Routinely Learn About It
 Watch films, television, documentaries,
news,
and other video of the culture
 Follow the business culture of a country
 Take courses and attend events related to
particular cultures
 Make friends with people who live in other
cultures and communicate online

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 Avoid Inappropriate
Stereotypes
Projected cognitive Outgroup
similarity homogeneity effect
the tendency to assume the tendency to think
others have the same members of other groups
norms and values as your are all the same.
own cultural group.

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 Adjust Your Conceptions of
Time
People high in CQ show patience
They understand that most tasks take
longer when working across cultures because
more time is needed to understand one
another and cooperate effectively

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 Manage Language Differences

Avoid quickly judging that others have limited

communication proficiency

Articulate clearly and slow down

Avoid slang and jargon

Give others time to express themselves

Use interpreters as necessary

Understanding Cultural
Dimensions
Cultural dimensions
fairly permanent and enduring sets of related norms
and values
Understanding Cultural
Dimensions

Individualism Uncertainty
Power
and avoidance
Distance
collectivism

Masculinity
Time
and
orientation
Femininity
 Individualism and Collectivism

Individualism
a mind-set that prioritizes independence more
highly than interdependence, emphasizing
individual goals over group goals, and valuing choice
more than obligation
 Individualism and Collectivism

Collectivism
a mind-set that prioritizes interdependence more
highly than independence, emphasizing group goals
over individual goals, and valuing obligation more
than choice
Communication Practices in High
Individualist and High Collectivist
Cultures
 High and low
communication
context
 High context : the members are so well
aware of the context that there is no
need to elaborate the verbal clues

 Low context: the contextual contribution

to communication is low, the verbal
clues have to be elaborated to remove
ambiguities and to achieve specificity

 Collectivism promotes high context

communication whereas individualism
promotes low context communication
 If you are an individualist communicating with
collectivists, you should understand:

 Their words may not always mean what you

think they do
 They may not take quick decisions, even when
they have the authority
 They may have great difficulty in saying or
doing things that might hurt the sentiments of
the members of their group
 They may not be willing to make
commitments explicit
 If you are a collectivist communicating with
individualists, you should understand:

 They may not mean to be rude when they are abrupt

 They may disagree openly with you, without trying to
soften the tone
 They may be impatient with your slow and consultative
decision-making process
 They may insist on explicit and written commitments to a
degree that might make you feel that they don’t trust you
 Power Distance
The degree to which a culture accepts
unequal distribution of
power
 High Power Distance
 Children are expected to obey not only their parents,
grandparents, but also other elders in the family and society
 In organisations, bosses are afforded more power, titles are
used, formality is the rule, and authority is seldom
bypassed. Ex- Asia, Africa, Arab countries, Malaysia.
 Low Power Distance
 Children are brought up to be independent
 The only people who get kinship titles are a child’s parents,
their brothers (uncles) and sisters (aunts), and their parents
(grandparents)
 Managers and employees judge each other equally.
Managers are given power only if they have expertise. Ex-
North European countries, Australia, United States, New
Zealand, Ireland
If you are a high power distance boss communicating with
low
power distance subordinates, you should understand:

 Their open disagreement does not mean that they

question your authority. It does not show their disrespect.
 When they agree with you, you can be reasonably sure
that they genuinely accept your idea.
 If you are a low power distance boss communicating with
high
power distance subordinates, you should understand:

 Their public agreement does not necessarily mean that

they agree with you.
 If you are a high power distance subordinate
communicating with low power distance bosses, you
should understand:

 They have difficulty coping with open and public

disagreement from subordinates; therefore use tact when
expressing diasagreement
 They are likely to use verbally indirect strategies to get
things done to prevent loss of face in the event of your not
doing what they want
 Time/Future Orientation

Time/Future orientation
(FO)
involves the degree to which cultures are
willing to sacrifice current wants to
achieve future needs.
Communication Practices in High and
Low Future Orientation Cultures
 Masculinity emphasizes on:
Money
Material
Ambition
Clear roles for male and female
Ex- UK, Germany, South Africa, Italy
 Femininity emphasizes on:
Cooperation
Care
Quality of life
Blurred distinction between the male and
female roles
Ex- Netherlands, Scandinavia
 Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance
(UA)
refers to how cultures socialize
members to feel in uncertain,
novel, surprising, or extraordinary
situations.
Communication Styles in High and Low
Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures

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 Indian culture
 Indian culture is ancient yet continuously living and evolving.
 Society appears to be in a period of major transition toward
power equalisation.
 Although collectivism and humane orientation continue to
be the most important characteristics of Indian culture,
there is an increasing preference for individualism.
 Transition in Indian Culture

 Indians may value hierarchy, maintain power

distance but like freedom and friendliness.
 In his famous book, “Development as Freedom,
Amartya Sen considers freedom as the primary
element of development (cited in O’Hearn, 2009).
Most of the Indian employees value freedom
and respect and seek for their dignity.
 Building and Maintaining Cross-
Cultural Work Relationships
Establish Trust and Show Empathy
Adopt a Learner Mind-set
Build a Co-Culture of Cooperation and
Innovation

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Communicating effectively in a Cross-cultural setting

Focus on what is said; try not to read too much into

the words or be oversensitive to nonverbal nuances.

Learn to accept what is said.

Develop a belief that verbal messages and feedback

are powerful and effective.
Understand that self-affirmation and individuality
are important to North Americans and that self-
oriented messages are used to separate oneself
from others.
Be aware that everyone should be treated equally
and that polite speech applies to family members,
intimate friends, and strangers.
Accept that North Americans value direct talk and
that, requests are often stated explicitly.
Recognize that being assertive is valued in the US culture
and that ͚no is accepted as an assertive response.

Understand that modesty is equated with low self-

confidence and that enhancing and crediting oneself is
expected.

Learn not to ask personal questions, because they can be

offensive and insulting.

Accept that North Americans like to express their opinion

openly and are talkative in their social interactions.
 Conclusion

•To become an effective communicator, individuals

should learn the cross-cultural variability of
communication.
•More attention should be given on how people in
different cultures use different communication
strategies and skills in maintaining social or personal
relationships.
•It is also important that one should understand one’s
own culture thoroughly before attempting to
understand the culture of others.
Thanks a
lot!